Gabi
Personality Gabi's curious, open-minded and rather optimistic: not the kind of blind optimism that makes someone think everything's perfect, but the kind that doesn't give up hope until all options have been exhausted; where others see a problem, she sees a need for a solution. She tends to treat others as equals, values wisdom and intelligence, and hates prejudice and injustice. She'll stand up for herself and those she cares for when necessary (and she gets to care for others quite easily), but prefers to avoid violence whenever it's possible. Gabi cares greatly for her friends and family, even though she rarely speaks about the latter, and tends to show concern for strangers as well. She usually finds herself helping others just because they need it. Given the choice, she will only refuse to help those she perceives as cruel and unjust, and only if she considers they have no chance of redemption. Gabi's mind is quite analytical, as she tends to think about everything very carefully. This is often useful, but has also brought her some problems, as more than a few times it has caused her to react too late when an immediate action was needed. Colors a.k.a. family history Gabi is a mixed breed fox. Not mixed as in "a quarter of this, three quarters of that", but mixed as in "it's impossible to trace her family tree far enough back to find the points where pure breeds were involved". Also, the magic that runs in her family has set them further apart from the common varieties, introducing things like green hair and drop-shaped markings around the eyes. When looking for prospective partners, her ancestors were generally more interested in preserving the magic than the color of the fur, although of course each one of them had a different story. The worst but perhaps most historically interesting one is the rumor that the red fur was introduced into the family after their home village was attacked a few centuries ago. Some say the attack was an attempt to exterminate the Were race, which ended up having the opposite effect. However, the name of the village itself and the date of the attack were lost to history. Known abilities In addition to her shapeshifting abilities which she hardly ever uses, and her naturally heightened senses, Gabi has an array of magical abilities, the most prominent of which is her healing magic. She can also create a mind-shield for herself, although it is not as effective as those created by Cubi: it only works when she is conscious, and it may drop when something acquires her complete attention, especially if it catches her off-guard. She also knows spells for stunning enemies (not effective against those with high magical resistance), mend objects, create a small light sphere, levitate small objects and avoid catching the attention of others (thus passing unnoticed unless someone is looking for her specifically or paying close attention). Plus she can channel and augment someone else's magic while the spell is being cast. As for armed combat, Gabi has experience with a fighting knife, and can defend herself with a rapier which was given to her by James StarRunner. She also has some knowledge of non-magical healing, and can make healing potions, as well as brew and blend teas and cook some meals. Gabi enjoys most forms of art, and she can sing, write and draw, although she doesn't get many chances to do those things. Traveling equipment Gabi is known to carry a Bag of Infinite Cookies, which was given to her as a reward for driving a horde of mows away from a small town while she was still traveling with her brother. The origin of the bag is unknown even to her. Aside from that, her medicine kit, her change of clothes, her weapons (knife and rapier) and her cooking implements, she also likes to carry things few adventurers take with themselves, like paper, drawing/writing implements, glue, scissors, a small mirror, a length of rope and a bar of soap. And, of course, she takes food and water whenever she goes on a journey. History Gabi grew up in Brish, a city populated mostly by beings, from whom she learnt two valuable lessons: 1. Beings and Creatures are not essentially different beyond the physical aspect, and 2. Not everyone is willing to accept that. She made some good friends among beings, but she also suffered the discrimination of others, and learned to keep quiet about her heritage unless those around her could be trusted, or her special abilities were needed (or unless someone made a nasty racial comment that angered her enough for her to slap the truth on their face). She learned some magic at home (mostly healing magic, along with guidelines to know when to use it and when not to), and some from a school teacher who was more than she appeared to be. Learning new things always attracted her, and as she grew up she felt an increasing urge to leave her hometown and find out what else was out there. She had second thoughts about it for a while, as she didn't want to leave everyone she knew and cared for, but eventually an argument with her parents helped her make up her mind and leave. Her brother decided to go with her, and they traveled together for a while, until they came to Ha'Khun, a town that had been suffering attacks by an incubus who used the name of Johan Cross and needed a healer. Gabi decided to stay and help, while her brother, having met the taste of the road, couldn't get enough of it and chose to leave after a few days. Gabi stayed in Ha'Khun and helped as much as she could, but the attacks continued and her frustration at being unable to stop everyone's suffering kept growing. It was then that she met a group of adventurers who were planning to take down this so-called 'Johan Cross', and Gabi jumped at the opportunity to help them. She took part in two different adventures with roughly the same team before they parted ways. A short time later she finally found her brother, who had not only grown used to adventuring on his own, but had also found a girlfriend. Not wanting to intrude, she left the pair alone after catching up and insisting that they kept in touch. She continued working as a healer in different places and practising with her sword whenever she had the chance. She still expects to embark on a new adventure at some point, but there is no way to know when that time will come. Appears In Gabi appears in Gareeku's Furrae Chronicles story and Roleplaying game, as well as an anachronic cameo on page 51 of Project Future. She also painted the Sunflower picture which can be seen on Jakob Pettersohn's wall since strip 88 of Project Future. Trivia *Gabi still loves her parents, even though she doesn't agree with them on the kind of life she should lead and doesn't want to see them again until she feels she's done something important with her life. *Gabi has finally received news of William for months after months of worrying, but she still wishes he would contact her more often rather than hiding so much. *Gabi can be quite fierce when she gets angry, though very few have seen that side of her. *However, she's not very good at physical combat, which is one of the reasons why she never goes adventuring alone. *Gabi knows what her friends smell like... *...but not what they did last summer, except for the obvious things like breathing and the likes. *Gabi's love of tea, bright colors and shiny things is well-known among those who know her. Author's Notes Gabi was the result of a combination of factors. She started out as a simple avatar for the old DMFA forum, which is why she shares her nickname and many personality traits with her author. A few other aspects of her were taken from a character from another RPG, named Gliynn Starseed. Both characters have the same initials as her author as a way of admitting they're partially self-inserts, although Gabi/Gabriela (author) has tried to give both Gliynn and Gabrielle some distinctive traits to make them unique. Gabi/Gabrielle started her slow developement as a character in different topics of the old forum, but only gained a full identity after Gareeku offered to feature her in his story, Furrae Chronicles.